Push-pole for locomotives



L. V. STEVENS.

PUSH POLE FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLlCATlON FILED NOV. 1. 1919.

'1 349, 985 Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

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ail/M2269 V Seyems PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE V. STEVENS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PUSH'-POLE FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

Application filed-November 1, 1919. .Serial No. 335,082.

' a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, and State of lennsylvania, have invented eertain-new and useful Improvements in Push Poles for Locomotives, of which the following is a specification, and which are llhlS- trated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

In railroad practice it is usual to provide locomotives, particularly those which are used in switch. yards, with a push pole by means of which the engine may be engaged with a car standing on another track and requiring to be moved; this emergency frequently arising when a car in process of shunting accidentally stops on a switch in such position as to interfere with trafiic on the other connecting line. Such a push pole has been usually a stout stick of timber provided at its ends with suitable ferrules, and the engine and cars are provided with push sockets, two at each end, for the engagement by the pole when the latter is brought into service.

The object of the present invention is to provide a pole which can be used without requiring the presence of a special push pole socket on one or the other of the vehicles and will engage any angular portion there of. As the invention is shown it presupposes the presence of the push sockets on the locomotive, but its use will obviate the necessity for providing them on the cars, thus effecting a substantial saving; and it will further permit the application of the pole to any angular part of the car and not simply to a corner thereof.

To this end the invention consists in a pole provided at at least one of its ends with a fork, preferably pivotally mounted, the two arms of the fork being arranged at a suitable angle for engaging an angular portion of the car, such as the corner of the body or the angle at the end of a beam.

The invention is fully hereinafter described and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a detail, partly in section, of the improved pole, showing the angular relation of the engaging fork;

Fig.2 is a similar view taken at an angle at 90 from the point of view of Fig. 1:

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail elevations of the pole taken from two points of view and showing a modified form of construction;

Fig.- 5 is a view in elevation of aimodified form ofthe fork;

Fig. 6-is an elevation of the same part frorn'a different point of view; and

Fig.7 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner of applying the pole to a locomotive and a car.

The pole 10 is of the usual form and is ordinarily made of a stout stick of timber, round in ("1OSS S1'tl()T1, and tapering toward both of its ends. This pole is provided at one of its ends with a fork having arms shown as inclosing an angle of W In the construction of Figs. 1 and 2 this fork 11 is provided at its apex or crotch with a ball 12, adapted to engage in a socket 13 conveniently formed of a pair of plates 14, 15, so shaped that one-half of the socket is formed in each and back of the socket the plates shall engage as a ferrule the end of the pole 10, being provided with lateral flanges, as 16, 17, which may be riveted or bolted together, and the ferrule is securely held to the pole as by means of a pin 18.

As thus formed the fork 11 has a universal movement with reference to the pole 10, and readily adapts itself to an angular portion of the car, whatever may be the direction in which the pole 10 projects therefrom.

In the construction of Figs. 3 and 4, the fork 19 is pivoted between a pair of cars 20, 21, formed on a ferrule 22 suitably secured to the end of the pole 10, and in this instance has a movement in one plane only with reference to the axis of the pole. In order to provide for a proper engagement of the fork with an angular portion of the car without requiring any definite positioning of the pole, it is formed of a round bar 23, bent to suitable form, as shown a right angle, and the pivot pin 24 extends through this bar at its angle.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a form of construction which, while similar to that of Figs. 1 and 2, may somewhat simplify the manufacture, one of the arms 25 of the fork bein pivotally attached to the ball 12 at 26, its attached end projecting into a recess in the ball having shoulders 27, 28, which so limit the pivotal play of the arm that the fork is always sufficiently open to readily engage an angular portion of thecar and will not spread far enough to prevent a retention of its grip.

If desired both ends of the pole may be provided with devices embodying the present invention, in which case push sockets would be unnecessary on either the locomotive or car. In Fig. 1, one end 29 of the pole 10 is shown as provided with a ferrule 30, according to the usual practice for both ends of such poles.

The operation of the invention is diagrammatically shown by Fig. 7, in which a car, indicated at 31, is to be moved by a locomotive, indicated at 32, in the direction toward the right of said figure. One rail only of each track is indicated at 33 and 34. A push socket is indicated on the locomotive at 35.

I claim as my invention 1. In a push pole, in combination, a pole,

a soeketed member secured to an end of said pole, forked means pivoted to said member adapted to embrace an angle of rolling stock, the inner faces of the arms of the fork being transversely rounded.

2. In a push pole, in combination, a pole, a ferrule at the end of the pole and having a pair of jaws, and a fork formed of a bent bar, the angle of the bar being pivotally secured between the jaws.

3. In a push pole, in combination, a pole, a fork formed of a bent bar pivotally attached at its angle to the end of the pole.

4. In a push pole, in combination, a pole, a fork formed of a bent bar pivotally attached at its angle to the end of the pole, the inner faces of the arms of the fork being transversel rounded.

LA VRENGE V. STEVENS. 

